Racial and ethnic minorities constitute a substantial part of the population of the United States, and the government should adopt policies that reflect their needs. Specifically, the U.S. government should promote the advancements for minorities in spheres such as education, economics, and health and offer timely solutions which address disparities. The existing data presented by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services highlights the need for the authorities to take measures to ensure equality for minorities.
First of all, it is important to discuss the area of education and analyze how people belonging to different minority groups perform in it. There is a considerable academic disparity in terms of the number of bachelor’s degrees among minority groups. For instance, more than 55% of Asian Americans have a bachelor’s degree, which is even higher than the rate of non-Hispanic whites (“Profile: Asian Americans,” 2021). At the same time, other minority groups, such as American Indians and Hispanic/Latino Americans, have an extremely low percentage of people with bachelor’s degrees, 20.8 and 17.6, respectively. The rate of Black Americans and Native Hawaiians is also not higher than 24%, which is much lower than 36.9% of non-Hispanic whites (“Profile: Black/African,” 2021). Such information shows that there is a need for an effective intervention to increase the number of people with bachelor’s degrees in certain minority groups. One of the possible solutions to achieve such a goal is to introduce special government-sponsored programs which will offer low-cost educational opportunities for minorities.
Another important area that needs to be explored is the economics and the financial well-being of minority groups. The Asian Americans had an average household income of more than $93,000 which significantly surpassed the $71,664 of the non-Hispanic whites Profile: Black/African). Nevertheless, the average household incomes of the Black and Indian Americans were considerably lower, with circa $43,000 and $49,000, respectively (“Profile: American Indian,” 2022). With Hispanic Americans having an average household income of $55,658 and Native Hawaiians having $66,696, it is clear that the economic disparities among minorities are notable. One of the possible solutions to the problem is the introduction of lower taxes for families and people with small incomes. Additionally, the government can fund a program providing assistance to minority entrepreneurs who wish to open their businesses. For instance, the government can provide low-interest loans to individuals who have viable business plans but do not have the resources to implement them.
Finally, there are also health disparities among the racial and ethnic minorities in the United States, which need to be addressed. While the life expectancy among minorities is approximately at the same level, insurance coverage varies from one group to another. For instance, among Asian Americans, Filipinos had the highest rate of private insurance coverage of more than 78%, which is even higher than that of non-Hispanic whites, who have 74.7% (“Profile: Asian Americans,” 2021). Yet, the private insurance coverage among Indian and Hispanic Americans was considerably lower, with less than 52% (“Profile: Hispanic,” 2021). The coverage rates among the Black Americans and Native Hawaiians were slightly higher, 55.9% and 65.8%, respectively (“Profile: Native Hawaiians,” 2021). The health disparities, namely in the area of private insurance coverage, can be rectified by subsidizing public insurance for poor minorities.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services statistics show that there are many disparities for racial and ethnic minorities in the country. In order to address the disparities in the areas of education and economics, the government needs to create special programs for minorities that will facilitate the acquisition of degrees and the establishment of businesses. The disparities in the area of health can be rectified by providing public insurance coverage for low-income families and individuals.
References
Profile: American Indian/Alaska Native. (2022). The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Profile: Asian Americans. (2021). The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Profile: Black/African Americans. (2021). The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Profile: Hispanic/Latino Americans. (2021). The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Profile: Native Hawaiians/Pacific Islanders. (2021). The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.